The AED is a safe, effective method of treating victims of cardiac arrest that has saved countless lives that may otherwise have been lost because of delayed care. Quite simply, the sooner defibrillation is started, the more likely the victim will survive with the optimum time for defibrillation being 3 to 5 minutes after the onset of the cardiac arrest.

And individuals can be easily trained in its use. As our way of supporting public access to AEDs, Rural/Metro Medical Services will offer free AED training to members of the general public through the end of 2010.

Also, for those community-based or non-profit groups that are set up as Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) sites, we will offer free training as well through September 2010.

Central New York is a generous community and through our combined efforts, I have no doubt that we will continue to see more and more AEDs at public sites resulting in a healthier community.